Goodbye

Captain America 2 To Take Place In A Modern World Where “Nothing Is Black And White”

There’s a bit of structural sleight of hand in Captain America: The First Avenger, wherein a montage of battle sequences not only moves along the plot, it provides for more stories from this time period to be told in subsequent movies.

We know we’ll be getting some of those flashbacks in the sequel, but the main body of the film, it seems, will be set in the present day. No surprise there, really.

Here’s co-writer Stephen McFeely talking about the plans for film 2:

I think it’s safe for us to say that it’s primarily set in the modern day. That seems to have been the biggest question people have been wondering about regarding the sequel. Most people know the story of Captain America as the story of this man out of time… [we will] explore Cap entering the modern day wondering, “What is all this? What’s happened to the world” and so on.

What has happened to the world? Big question. And the answer isn’t really cut and dried, but McFeely and his partner Christopher Markus will have to make a decision and take a stand. Here’s Markus, giving us some indication of their point of view:

We made a movie where the world was in context for Steve Rogers. It was a movie where it was a more pure time, where there were clearly black-and-white, right-and-wrong, good-and-evil scenarios. And Cap is a guy who symbolizes that. Now he’s in the now, and there is nothing black-and-white.

I’ll agree that we live in a world of moral ambiguity. But I’d disagree that the moral context surrounding the second world war was “black and white.”

Still, if they’re talking in relative terms, and as a means to generate drama, juxtaposing this naive war hero against “an uncertain world”, I think the guys are on to a rich seam of potential.

The full interview with Markus and McFeely is at The HD Room.

Watchmen 2 Approaches

Two days ago, Bleeding Cool mentioned that Watchmen prequels at DC were back on the agenda, after the success of the New 52. That meetings were happening this week. That it had the code name “Panic Room”. That names mentioned included Dave Gibbons, John Higgins, Darwyn Cooke, JMS, JG Jones, Andy Kubert and more.

Indeed I am now told that there will be four Watchmen miniseries, all prequels. Working off an over-arching uber-plot by Darwyn, who will be writing and drawing on aa book or two.

MTV Geek found a comment from Darwyn Cooke from earlier in the year when he said;

“I have something coming up with DC, but I’m sworn to secrecy…there is a very big project on the horizon with DC, which we’re probably going to announce in October, as far as I understand. And that should be exciting, and infuriating, and all kinds of things to people. It should be quite a shock when they hear what we’re doing.”

And a Bleeding Cool correspondant chatting to Andy Kubert over the weekend discovered that:

“Mr.Kubert said that after his Action Comics job he was hoping to finish a Batman mini-series about Damian. This was a mini that he was writing and drawing and was originally planned before Flashpoint and the New 52.  After that he said he has another project but it’s “Super Secret” and that he couldn’t give any details.  The last time I spoke to Andy Kubert was at the Big Apple Con in 2009.  When we spoke he said he was going to be doing a “Super Secret” project that he couldn’t talk about, turned out it was “Flashpoint”.  So if Andy Kubert has a big job coming up and DC is saying that they’re doing an event for the next two years, then what is Kubert doing?”

DC declined to comment.

Mickey Rourke Apparently Won’t Return for Expendables Sequel

Back in May, a spoiler-filled synopsis of The Expendables 2 started making the rounds indicating that the plot will revolve around the murder of Tool, “the heart and soul of The Expendables” played by Mickey Rourke. Whether the movie, now directed by Simon West (The Mechanic) instead of the first film’s helmer, writer and star Sylvester Stallone, goes down that route or not, Deadline reports that Rourke will not be involved.

Or so it seems, as he’s in negotiations to work with In Bruges director Martin McDonagh’s next flick Seven Psychopaths. That production will be filming at the same time as Expendables 2 and would seemingly put Rourke out of the running. Of course, what would stop him from popping in for a quick death scene before heading back to the set of Seven Psychopaths, where he’ll star alongside Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell in a story about a screenwriter who gets drawn into his friends’ scheme to steal a mobster’s dog.

However things shake down, you’ll definitely see Rourke next month in Tarsem Singh’s Immortals, starring opposite Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill.

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank Revive SHAZAM!

Captain Marvel's DC Comics status is frequently murky, and the fact that part of his name also happens to be the name of their direct competitor doesn't exactly help. 

DC might be remedying that situation in their latest revival of the character, Curse of Shazam. Appearing as a Justice League back-up by the Superman: Secret Origin team of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, it's a revamp of the property, and it looks like the "Marvel" name might be severely de-emphasized in favor of "Shazam" -- or perhaps disappear altogether.

Writer sues 'The Hangover Part II' filmmakers for stealing his biographical script

An aspiring screenwriter has sued Warner Bros. and the filmmakers behind The Hangover Part II for copyright infringement, defamation, fraud, and other charges, claiming that the R-rated comedy copied a script he had written about his wild personal experiences in Asia. After his marriage to a Japanese woman fell apart during his honeymoon in 2008, Michael Alan Rubin went on some adventures that he turned into a screenplay titled Mickey and Kirin.

In the suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Rubin says The Hangover sequel “is copied from the treatment … and also from the real life incident of the Plaintiff, because the protagonist in Hangover-2 travels from the United States to an Asian country to marry his Asian girlfriend.”

The lawsuit blames his ex-wife, Tamayo Otsuki, for giving the filmmakers his story and goes on to accuse them of defaming him with the franchise’s description of Ed Helms’ character — that he married a prostitute in Vegas while under the influence of drugs and had sex with a transsexual prostitute. For the record, it should be noted that Rubin is representing himself in the matter.

Agent Coulson Short Movies

Marvel Studios has been releasing some short movies with Agent Coulson as an extra in their DVDs. Here you have the two already available.

Michael Bay, Hasbro And Spielberg Are Discussing Transformers 4

The film may be all but inevitable, but the roster of creatives are not.
Though, according to Hasbro’s CEO Brian Goldner, the company are including Michael Bay in their discussions for a fourth Transformers film.

Hopes of seeing a different (better?) filmmaker taking a new approach at the series have just taken a ding. On the upside, this other phantom filmmaker can now devote their energies to something not saddled with all of that awful Transformers baggage.

Acoording to The Hollywood Reporter, Goldner hopes to have news in the next quarter on how his talks with Bay, Paramount and producer Steven Spielberg have gone. I imagine their talking points will include how many new films they’re going to saddle up for, what continuity will be carried over from the last three films, and whether any of the cast will be retained.

It could also be up for discussion that Bay doesn’t stay on as director, but as a producer – though, I’m sure, Spielberg and Hasbro will want Bay in the canvas chair again.

Meanwhile, everything else Hasbro ever stamped their name on in some way or another remains in the movie studios pipeline: Battleship is out next year; Ouija is on a budget-diet; Stretch Armstrong, Micronauts, Candyland and Monopoly are being scripted; other, as yet unannounced projects are also somewhere in development. Yawn.

“I’m Phoenix Jones”: Real Life Superhero Unmasks

Earlier this week, a video of a conflict on the streets of Seattle which led to assault charges for Phoenix Jones appeared, even though the video appeared to show that Jones was in fact breaking up a fight as he had claimed.

Now, the saga of the world’s best-known Real Life Superhero has taken another interesting twist, as Phoenix Jones unmasked in front of cameras after appearing in court to answer the charges, and revealed his identity on camera as Ben Fodor.  As procecutors delayed a decision about whether to file the assault charges, Fodor announced he would continue to patrol the streets as Phoenix Jones.

“I’m Phoenix Jones. I’m also Ben Fodor. I’m a father. I’m also a brother. I’m just like everyone else. The only difference is, I decided to make a difference and stop crime in my neighborhood and my area,” said Fodor.

The 23-year-old was accused of assaulting several people outside a nightclub early Sunday morning, but no charges were filed in Thursday’s hearing when prosecutors told a judge they would need more time to decide whether to file charges in the case.
“The charges were false. The video shows that, the court hearing shows that. And I’m going to continue to do what I’ve always done and if you want to help me in any way, send me a message. Find me on Facebook,” said Fodor.

He invited the public to accompany him on a “patrol” in Seattle on Saturday at 10 p.m. at First and Pike, and then in true superhero fashion, he signed off by saying, “I’ll be on the streets.”

Patty Jenkins confirmed as Thor 2 Director

It’s official: Patty Jenkins will direct Thor 2.


Marvel Studios confirmed rumors with the announcement that Jenkins, whose experience includes directing the movie Monster as well as episodes of AMC’s The Killing as well as Entourage and Arrested Development, will helm the second installment of the movie version of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby character. Chris Helmsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston were also mentioned in the announcement, with all three returning for the movie, due for release November 15, 2013.

FBI Arrests Florida Man in Scarlett Johansson Nude Pictures Case

A Florida man has been indicted on charges of sneaking into the email accounts of more than 50 celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and Rene Olstead, federal officials announced Wednesday.

Pictures of a naked Johansson made their way to the internet in September. FBI agents arrested Christopher Chaney, 35, Wednesday morning after an 11-month investigation. One day earlier, a federal grand jury indicted him on 26 counts.

Investigators say that Cheney used publicly available sources to find information about the celebrities and used that information to gain access to their Yahoo, Apple and Google email accounts.
He'd then set the forwarding feature to send him a copy of every e-mail the celebrities received, the indictment says. That way, he kept reeiving forwarded emails even after passwords had been changed.
According to an FBI statement, "Chaney distributed some of the files he obtained illegally, including photos of celebrities, and offered them to various celebrity blog sites. Some of the illegally obtained files, including private photographs, were ultimately posted online."

In addition to Aguilera, Johansson, Kunis and Olstead, Chaney is accused of stealing information from stylist Simone Harouche and several people identified only by their initials: B.P., J.A., L.B. and L.S. The actress Jessica Alba was reportedly targeted.


Chaney, who used the names "trainreqsuckswhat," "anonygrrl" and "jaxjaguars911," faces 121 years in federal prison if convicted on all counts.

Source: The Warp

The Expendables 2: Smaller role for Schwarzennegger?

It was said that Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger would have “substantial” roles in The Expendables 2, up from their fleeting, but endlessly cringe-worthy, cameos in the first film, but according to Schwarzennegger himself, or at least a quote attributed to him by the Global Arnold fansite, Schwarzenegger will only be filming for four days on the film:

I fly in a few days to Bulgaria and stand for four days for Sly Stallone’s Expendables 2 in front of the camera. The rotation for the first real comeback film which begins on the October 17th in New Mexico for Last Stand, an action Film, in which deals with drug smugglers, I play the sheriff.

Anyway, here's a photo from the set, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis:

Javier Bardem confirms he is next Bond villain

After months of speculation about who would play the villain in the next James Bond installment, we finally have an answer, friendo: Javier Bardem. During an interview with Christiane Amanpour on Nightline, in which the Spanish actor talked about his involvement with a charity to help west Saharan refugees, Bardem confirmed that he would be playing the bad guy in Bond 23. “I am very excited. My parents took me to watch the movies and I saw all of them. So to play that is going to be fun,” Bardem said about his joining the 00-franchise. “They chose me to play this man, but I cannot give you many details.”

Source: InsideMovies

[Trailer] The Avengers

Enjoy! :D

Russel Crowe as Jor-El

First pic of Russel Crowe as Jor-El, Superman's Kryptonian father, in Man of Steel.